Juan Flores of the Callpulli Mexican dance group is ready to perform in Aztec apparel and face paint Saturday during the 43rd anniversary celebration in Chicano Park. Sean M. Haffey • U-T

Logan Heights 
Chicano Park broke out in vibrant celebration Saturday, drawing Aztec dancers, mariachi players, muralists, neighborhood activists and thousands of visitors to this small patch of San Diego that has played a big role in the city’s history.

“It’s a place where you feel connected, where you belong,” said Maria Zavala, a 26-year-old City College student who drove from her home in Clairemont to join the festivities marking the park’s 43rd anniversary.

Like many in the crowd, Zavala was too young to know the park’s beginnings in April 1970, when Barrio Logan residents formed a human chain around bulldozers sent to clear a path for a California Highway Patrol station in their neighborhood.

But Zavala grew up driving to the neighborhood with her parents, visiting the park beneath the ramps to the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, growing familiar with its boldly painted murals. And Saturday, she was glad to be back, with her own son and daughter.

“You come here and see your people, it brings such joy,” she said.

This is a special year for Chicano Park, which won designation in January to the National Register of Historic Places. Key to moving forward with the designation was persuading neighborhood residents to overcome their mistrust of government, said Josephine Talamantez, an arts consultant who grew up in Barrio Logan and spearheaded the designation effort.

Honored as the keynote speaker at this year’s celebration, Talamantez said the next step is the creation of an adjoining museum.

“We want a Chicano Park art history and science museum, and cultural center,” Talamantez said. “We will fundraise and get donors and build this museum so that our history is protected and told.”

Among those applauding the designation was Maria Eugenia Castillo Curry, a historic preservationist and member of San Diego’s Historic Resources Board.

“This is an important moment for reconciliation,” Castillo Curry said. “There were people from the government, the community, from many places that came together for this to happen. Historic preservation shows you can unite people.”

Planned by the park’s volunteer steering committee, the event was a festival of smells and colors and sounds. Musicians played on two stages, and a couple hundred booths offered everything from books of poetry and T-shirts with images of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata to organic Mexican chocolate and hearty servings of burritos.

The celebration drew groups of motorcyclists, lowriders and dancers. A highlight was the performance by Aztec dancers representing groups from as far as San Jose, Arizona and Mexico City.

“That’s what the whole event is about, reclaiming our heritage,” said Mario Aguilar, who leads the group Danza Mexicayotl.

At Chicano Park, “you feel welcome, you feel like you’re at home,” said Rosario Avina, 31, who has lived by the park all her life. “This gives us a lot of strength and culture to keep on going and strive for something better in life.”